Rangers score nine goals to finish season sweep of Islanders, keep season alive for now

The Rangers still probably won’t be making the playoffs this year, but they at least spared themselves the indignity of having their playoff chase come to an end at the hands of the rival Islanders.

One night after they gave up six third-period goals in an ugly loss to the lowly Philadelphia Flyers, the Rangers jumped out to a fast start Thursday and routed the Islanders, 9-2, sweeping the four-game season series between the teams, and keeping their faint playoff hopes alive for at least one more day.

Adam Fox had three assists to give him 51 on the season. He is the ninth different NHL defenseman to record 50 assists in four straight seasons.

“We know what the situation is,’’ Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck said. “And we’ve just got to focus on each game, trying to get better, whether it’s a push for the playoffs, or a push to make ourselves better going into next year, and focusing on the details of our game and trying to fine tune some things.’’

“I think every game is important,’’ said goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who made 44 saves to frustrate the Islanders. “Yeah, we got two points today, but I think we could play like that almost every game.’’

They did not, though, and as a result, with one week left in the season, the math is still very much against them. At 37-35-7, and 81 points, the Rangers are six points behind the Montreal Canadiens, who hold the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with three games remaining. Montreal has four, beginning with a road game in Ottawa Friday. If the Canadiens manage just a single point in that game, getting a win or a post-regulation loss, the Rangers will be eliminated from playoff contention.

The only way for the Rangers to get into the playoffs now is if they win all three of their remaining games, Saturday in Carolina, Monday in Florida and next Thursday at the Garden against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Canadiens lose all four of theirs.

But on Thursday, the Rangers could forget all that for a night and go home happy. They got to hear their fans chant “Let’s go Rangers!’’ in a way they had not in quite some time. They can deal with reality again Friday.

“We’re still in it,’’ rookie Brett Berard, who scored two third-period goals for his first career multi-goal game in the NHL. “Maybe it’s kind of another team’s hands now, but I mean we’ve still got to do our part . . . so I mean everyone kind of had that mindset going in tonight.’’

They got off to a fast start when Mika Zibanejad, who had four assists in Wednesday’s 8-5 loss to the Flyers, took a pass from J.T. Miller and wired a shot from the right wing past Islanders goalie Marcus Hogberg. The Rangers ended up scoring four goals in the first period — Will Cuylle, Trocheck (on the power play) and Artemi Panarin had the others — and Shesterkin fought off a furious second-period charge by the Islanders, making 19 saves in the middle period, many of them spectacular.

Juuso Parssinen, who had been a healthy scratch for the previous five games, before coach Peter Laviolette inserted him to the lineup in place of rookie Brennan Othmann, scored on a wraparound to make it 5-0 at 8:19 of the second period. But then Parssinen took a cross-checking penalty and the Islanders finally got on the board, on Maxim Tsyplakov’s power-play goal at 19:06.

Berard’s first goal, at 7:54 of the third period, made it 6-1 and prompted Islanders coach Patrick Roy to lift Hogberg and insert rookie Tristan Lennox, who made his NHL debut. But after Hudson Fasching scored for the Islanders, Berard scored his second goal, against Lennox, at 12:37. That prompted Roy to take Lennox back out and re-insert Hogberg, who subsequently gave up two more goals, to Alexis Lafreniere and Panarin — his second of the game — before it ended.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.